Noctua NV-FS1 Desk Fan Review

A Closer Look & Performance

Now, full disclosure here, I normally get a product in and photograph it when it’s shiny and new, but I dropped my standards here, as I’ve been endlessly using this product for weeks now. So yeah, it’s a bit dusty despite me giving it a clean up, but honestly, in a way, this is more akin to how it’s going to look on your desk. It’s not going to be brand new for long, it’s going to be used! I will, of course, clean it up in a moment, but I felt this was important to see it in a real-world used state.

It’s a really unique looking bit of kit too, with that airflow amplification system on the front, which features four long channels to direct the air. However, underlying that, it’s a pretty standard Noctua fan.

As you can see, that gets quite dusty too, I live in a dusty area in general though, so your mileage will vary here.

The fan they’ve used it the NF-A12x25, admittedly, it’s one of the absolute best fans on the market, and for a 120mm fan it’s capable of pushing significant airflow with incredibly low noise. As you can see, a quick wipe down of the fan, washed the accelerator under the tap, and we’re good to go again.

Now, at max RPM, it’s absolutely audible, but there’s no motor or fan blade chop, just the sound of air rushing through the vents on the front cover, and it’s a gentle white noise that’s far from distracting.

However, you only have to turn the fan down to around 75% until it becomes all but silent in a quiet room. At night time when it’s dead quiet, maybe about 50%.

However, by the time you’re playing a game, watching YouTube, listening to music, or you have headphones on, well, you obviously won’t hear it at all.

What staggers me is the range. I have it on my desk about 2 feet from my face pointing up at me, and I can really feel it.

However, even from 6ft away, the air is still fantastically directional and you can really feel it. Those plastic nozzles project a tube of air like some kind of air-laser.

Now, there’s some science at work here, of course, and Noctua’s illustration explains it rather well. It uses Helix energy recovery, progressive flow acceleration and the venturi-effect to significantly enhance and direct the airflow.

Worried about getting your fingers trapped in the fan? Well, the front nozzles are too slim to poke your finger down, and on the back, there’s a durable metal guard, so unless you’re determined to do something stupid, you really shouldn’t have an issue getting caught in the fan blades.

However, Noctua say that “both acoustics and airflow performance can be further improved by removing the grill in applications where protection from accidental touch or other mechanical contact is not necessary” and you only have to pull out the pins, detach it, and push the pins back in to mount the fan. Then you can get even more airflow, but remember not to pick it up while it’s on or you’ll likely lose a finger nail.

The stand is very heavy, with a weighted base that keeps everything nicely planted.

There are clearly marked out mounting holes on the base too. Some are recommended for using screws to mount it to a surface or a wall. There are some that are recommended for using cable ties to strap it to something; such as a microphone boom perhaps.

However, it’s also strongly magnetic, and while I’ve nothing on my desk that would suit that application, if you have a PC case up on your desk, it can confidently snap onto the side panel or something similar.

What’s really cool is that the stand can be adjusted to accommodate a 140mm fan too. However, keep in mind, the airflow amplifier is for 120mm so you would need a different accessory to take full advantage.

Much to Noctua’s credit here, I tried it with a 140mm Thermaltake Toughfan, without the airflow amplifier, and it was just a noisy indirect blustery waste of my time. It blew air, of course, but from more than a foot away, the effect was weak and really just didn’t work. So yeah, that little airflow amplifier is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.

What’s neat is you can buy the stand, gaskets, accelerator and what have you separately, so you could use any fan you want!